


The Cares of Tomorrow

by Originalpuck



Series: Cares of Tomorrow 'Verse [1]
Category: The Eagle | Eagle of the Ninth (2011)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - Monster Hunter, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Community: the_eagle_kink, Goblins, M/M, Mild Kink, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-18
Updated: 2011-09-18
Packaged: 2017-11-14 08:12:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/513155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Originalpuck/pseuds/Originalpuck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Goblins aren't the only thing on Marcus's mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Cares of Tomorrow

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the kink meme [prompt,](http://the-eagle-kink.livejournal.com/2834.html?thread=2666002#t2666002) _Esca/Marcus, cocky bastard!Esca, possible AU, "I will have you, Aquila, and we both know it."_ Art by the wonderful [LadyTiferet](http://ladytiferet.livejournal.com/profile) (see more versions [here](http://poziomeczka.livejournal.com/19453.html?thread=1360381#t1360381)).

  


_”It is not the cares of today, but the cares of tomorrow, that weigh a man down.” - George MacDonald_  


  


Marcus hadn't expected the damn goblins to have laid a trap for him. He'd been hunting the things for weeks, and they'd never shown any signs of having an IQ higher than a broken twig. For God's sake, they'd actually chased a skunk, and then had seemed shocked when it'd sprayed them.

And yet here Marcus was, laying in the dirt and struggling against the full power of one seriously pissed off Mama Goblin, after having been distracted by the injured keening of a lost and bleeding little girl. All he'd had was his flashlight to keep her jaws away from him, since the initial impact had sent his blessed knife flying.

“Fuck,” Marcus grunted. Snarling, the goblin snapped its jaws inches from his face. The things features were contorted and its eyes were glowing with the reflected light from Marcus's flashlight.

He was losing his grip, and the goblin had the rest of him pinned under its weight. It didn't help that the frantic sobs from the little girl had peaked and then faded away, and Marcus was pretty sure that he heard a wet smacking sound from behind him.

“Just stay strong,” he called to the girl, even though he doubted there was anything left of her to hear him.

The goblin on top of him managed to claw at Marcus's wrist. He cursed, louder, as the pain coursed through him, and nearly gave up his hold. It was only the knowledge that letting the sharp pain in his wrist win would mean certain death that kept him struggling.

Wetting his lips, he pushed with all of his might, and for a brief, brief second, Marcus thought it had miraculously been enough to shove the three hundred pound creature off of him. Adrenaline rush, maybe.

But then he saw it just hanging in the air for several long seconds before it's neck was snapped from behind. Marcus crabwalked backwards, and watched as the body of the Mama Goblin was thrown aside by none other than Esca MacCunoval. Great, just what his night needed.

Marcus's hand reached for his belt, where he kept a spray can of holy water, just in case. Esca shook his head, his eyes narrowing and face serious. And then he was lunging towards Marcus, fangs lowered, a hiss snarling out of his throat.

Despite knowing that Esca was a threat, Marcus had never actually expected the vampire to hurt him. Which meant that he couldn't bring himself to smash down on the spray button until Esca was already poised to rip off his face. And then he was flying past him, and Marcus realized Esca wasn't aiming for him at all. Not that it made much of a difference to Esca, not since the holy water had already been sprayed.

The vampire had howled as the holy water hit him, setting fire to his skin, through his clothing. The bright flames lit up the cavern better, and Marcus could now see what Esca had been aiming for. Still alight, the vampire lunged into the other goblin, who had been trying to sneak up on Marcus from behind.

Rolling around, Marcus lunged for his knife, to help, but by the time he grabbed it and was back on his feet, the fight was over. Esca had torn the throat out of the thing with his teeth. Somehow he'd also managed to put his flames out and was standing back up, spitting goblin flesh out of his mouth. He even ran the back of his hand over his mouth, for good measure.

Guilt washed over Marcus, but he pushed it down, refusing to look at Esca's burns. Instead, he let his eyes glance around the small cavern. He'd killed one goblin on his way in, and since Esca had taken out the other two, it looked like his mission was over. The creatures were dead, and the people had been saved.

Most of them, anyways.

Unable to help himself, Marcus turned his eyes to the spot where the little girl had been. It wasn't a surprise to find her mauled to death. Marcus had known what he'd find, but still, he felt himself struggling to keep his lunch down. No matter how many dead bodies Marcus saw, he never got used to it. Especially when it was that gruesome.

“You actually sprayed me,” Esca said, drawing Marcus's attention away from the corpse. “That hurt, you bastard.”

“You were lunging at me. Is it too much to warn someone before you leap?” If Marcus's voice sounded weak, well, he blamed it on his nausea and throbbing wrist.

“I was trying to save your life. Maybe next time I'll let you get bitten up for a while, see how much you appreciate me then.” Esca's fingers reached down to gingerly press against his burnt skin. He hissed out a wince between his teeth. “This is going to take all day to heal.” He frowned as he touched the tattered and bloody remains of his pale shirt. “And I really liked this sweater.”

“I'll buy you a new one, send it to your crypt,” Marcus said. He thought about his finances for a second, and then admitted, “Though it might not be as expensive.”

He wanted to close his eyes, to rub his fingers over them like he did when he was stressed sometimes. But that would leave him vulnerable, even if it was only for a few seconds. And the fact of the matter was, no matter how often Esca appeared to protect him, he was a vampire. The whole lot were about as untrustworthy as you could get.

Esca tilted his head to the side, smiling wide in a way that Marcus knew was dangerous for an entirely different reason than most people assumed. In the space of a blink, Esca was there, beside him, pressing Marcus's hand against Esca's wounds, and shivering. “You could make up for it in other ways, you know.”

A part of him, and it wasn't even a small part, wanted to agree. It wanted to cave, and say that yeah, he'd thought about it. God, Marcus even wanted to admit that he'd jerked off to fantasies about it, tugging himself hard and rough until he was begging the ghost of Esca to please, God, let him come.

But Esca wasn't safe, wasn't trustworthy, and certainly wasn't the type of person that a Hunter should be fucking. No matter how much every fiber of Marcus begged him to. “In your dreams.”

For a few brief moments Esca actually looked hurt, before his face was schooled back into a look of pure arrogance. “Another day, then.”

With that, he was pulling away from Marcus and heading back towards the entrance of the cave. He paused, silhouetted in the light from outside, and called back to Marcus one last time.

"I will have you eventually, Aquila, and we both know it." Marcus groaned, low in his throat, because damned if he didn't want the vamp to be right.


End file.
